Restore the right to carry a concealed handgun on Ohio’s college campuses.

Self-defense is a basic human right. Ohio’s college students, faculty, and staff should not be denied that right by virtue of participation in higher education. As licensees, we should be permitted to carry on college campuses just as we already do in other non-secure locations across the state.

We, students, faculty, staff, parents, and other concerned citizens, petition you, Ohio lawmakers, to remove 2923.126(B)(5) from Ohio Revised Code and change other provisions to allow concealed handgun licensees the right to concealed carry a handgun on Ohio’s college campuses without restriction. We petition you, Ohio’s university presidents, chancellors, and boards of regents, to change your policies that restrict our rights above Ohio Revised Code. It’s time we empower Ohio’s brightest instead of Ohio’s criminals.

The students, faculty, and staff that are licensed to carry a concealed handgun in Ohio obtained said license with considerable effort. They submitted to an extensive FBI background check to ensure a record clean of felonies, violent and/or drug related misdemeanors, mental defective adjudications, and active criminal protection orders. They took a state mandated 12 hour National Rifle Association firearms safety course and passed the competency testing subsequent to the course. Licensees in Ohio must also be older than 21.

There are 70 universities and technical colleges allowing concealed carry on 220 campuses in Michigan, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Virginia and Mississippi. These campuses have a combined student population of ½ million. Add in faculty and staff and there are ¾ of a million people living, working, and playing on campuses allowing concealed carry. None of these campuses have experienced a single incident of gun violence (including threats and suicides), a single gun accident injuring innocent people, or a single gun theft as a result.

Are Buckeyes less responsible? It is time we treat our students, faculty, and staff that possess a concealed handgun license like the responsible citizens they are and allow them the right to carry that defensive tool on Ohio State’s campus. It is time we remove campus carry restrictions both by law and university policy. Failure to do so demonstrates that we value the safety of criminals over that of our brightest young minds, those that engage them intellectually, and those that support the operations of the environment in which they learn.

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Michael Newbern needs your help with “Ohio Lawmakers, University Presidents, Chancellors, and Boards of Regents: Restore the right to carry a concealed handgun on Ohio’s college campuses.”. Join Michael and 738 supporters today.

Today: Michael is counting on you

Michael Newbern needs your help with “Ohio Lawmakers, University Presidents, Chancellors, and Boards of Regents: Restore the right to carry a concealed handgun on Ohio’s college campuses.”. Join Michael and 738 supporters today.